Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble Presents “The Splendor of the Season” December 16

On Sunday, December 16, the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble will present a free band concert with a theme of “The Splendor of the Season.” The program will begin at 4 p.m. at Emmanuel Church, Cross and High streets, Chestertown. A reception with refreshments will follow the program.

Under the musical direction of Dr. Keith Wharton since its founding in 2001, the band will play arrangements of both well-known and less familiar holiday music, both sacred and secular.

The program will open with Ayatey Shabazz’s “Christmas Fantasia,” followed by “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas,” by Meredith Willson (of “Music Man” fame). Next the band will play a somewhat unconventional, driving version of “Carol of the Bells” (also known as the “Ukrainian Bell Song”), as arranged and recorded by guitarist Gary Hoey.

Emmanuel’s organist and choirmaster, G. Robert Tyson, will play three pieces with the band, with the audience invited to sing along to two (“Once in Royal David’s City” and “As With Gladness Men of Old”). The third will be Australian Brendan Elliget’s “Christmas Suite No. 3,” which incorporates “In Dulci Jubilo,” “Sussex Carol,” and “The Holly and the Ivy.”

A highlight of the program will be “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Originally titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and attributed to Clement C. Moore, the 1823 poem will be read by Mark Mumford, Clerk of the Kent County Circuit Court and drum major of the Kent County Community Marching Band, interspersed with musical commentary by the band. Since Moore originally wrote the poem for his children, its performance should have special appeal for children in the audience.

Another special feature will be an interesting brass-quartet version of “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” an African-American spiritual dating from the 19th century as arranged by Lennie Niehaus, the first of four songs in his 1998 “Yuletide Jazz Suite No. 3.” Ray Diedrichs and Joe Diamond will play trumpet, and Jim Pileggi and Dave Knutson will play trombone.

Although “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” by Leon Jessel, was not written in 1897 as a Christmas piece, the jaunty march has been associated with the season since the 1920s. The band will also play another seasonal secular piece, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” by Frank Loesser, who wrote the words and music in the 1940s. It won the 1950 Academy Award for best original song in a movie (“Neptune’s Daughter”).

The program will close with “A Christmas Montage,” like “Spirits Bright” earlier in the program a medley of favorite Christmas tunes.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, based in Chestertown, is an all-ages community concert band that offers area wind and percussion musicians an opportunity to continue or return to the pleasures of playing quality music in a large ensemble. New members are welcome, without audition or fee. Rehearsals for the March 17 concert will begin on January 7, a good time for new members to join the group. For further information, call 410-778-2829 or 410-810-1834. The ensemble is partially supported by the Kent County Arts Council.